Knesset told country lacks facilities to treat those traumatized by current war

By Sam Sokol 19 December 2023, 3:11 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Limor Luria, head of the Defense Ministry's Rehabilitation Department, speaks during a Labor and Welfare Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 19, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel lacks the capacity to treat all of those injured and traumatized in the ongoing war, a representative of the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Division tells lawmakers.

Addressing the Knesset’s Labor and Welfare Committee, Limor Luria says that since the outbreak of the war, her department has dealt with 2,816 new patients, 18% of whom are suffering from mental health issues and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“If we don’t get additional resources and standards, we won’t be able to take care of everyone,” she declares, adding that despite its commitment to do so, the ministry has not established a separate department for treating soldiers suffering from PTSD.

This is especially worrying because the current conflict is “unlike anything that has happened in the past,” says Idan Kleiman, who heads the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization. “We expect about 10,000 PTSD sufferers.”